There has been a discernable rise in the number of video uploads on social media sites like, Instagram and Twitter as media and entertainment companies are trying to engage their audiences increasingly on social media. This has led to fast growth in online video advertising.
Today, content marketing trends indicate that digital first, print, electronic and other genres are alternating between platforms, e.g. if kids’ entertainment helped grow SOV (Share of Voice) on Facebook, it was content covering food that helped grow SOV on YouTube. Before trying to make sense of the increasing numbers of video uploads on social media, it would help to get familiar with some numbers. There are over 35 thousand media and entertainment companies and close to 50 thousand brands that are actively driving video uploads with help from nearly 9 million influencers.
What exactly is online video advertising?
Online display ads that also include videos are essentially considered as video advertising although advertising that is displayed before, during or after a video stream could also be considered as such. These are also known as pre-roll, mid-roll, and post-roll advertisements that are in a way, tagged with the main video. Such ads are edited or unedited versions of TV commercials of brands from different industries. This kind of advertising is a powerful platform for conversion when optimally used, since it creates a more stimulating environment for consumers than most other formats. It helps brands to create a strong presence across user behavior patterns at a fast pace.
What we discussed so far is the simple straightforward aspect of this form of advertising. Because of the scale at which content is created and consumed online, the focus of marketers naturally moves towards the critical data with regard to the content consumption habits in their target markets. After all, the videos that they are uploading in such large numbers across so many sites are intended to bring in some results. In digital video advertising brands are able to build stronger connections with their audiences along the customer journey with focused content delivered across a variety of digital platforms. Such cross-channel video reach has transformed how brands reach their customers at key points of the path to purchase and trigger conversions with highly engaging video content.
YouTube and Facebook are leading the way
The competition is mainly between Google-owned YouTube and Facebook in the online video domain. These two giants not only have the user base to scale up their operations in a big way but also bring in the critical differentiators – advanced technology and investments to crank up their reach of the market. Naturally, most advertisers would love to be present in either of these platforms. In the second quarter of 2017 the total video views of media and entertainment content on Facebook has been over 274 million but views of influencer uploaded videos during the same period has seen a sharp fall of around 90% from what it was in the first quarter.
On YouTube, it’s a different picture but the numbers are impressive nonetheless. The total number of views of videos created by influencers in the second quarter of 2017 was 256 million which indicated a growth of around 25% from what it was on the first quarter. Clearly, the video uploads from media and entertainment companies have been overwhelmingly on Facebook while the video uploads by influencers is equally high on YouTube. Similarly, brands can deliver highly relevant and engaging videos to users across social, mobile and traditional outlets which help improve brand awareness, conversions and retention with integration throughout the content network.
Today, video advertising helps brands reach target groups across their preferred platforms and bring up very high levels of ROI as they now have more channels for delivering their videos along with improved targeting features. Even as the range of digital content continues to expand the use of video for online marketing is also changing rapidly. This has increased the viewership of online videos with engaging, and meaningful content to help brands communicate better in an increasingly competitive landscape. Cross-channel video marketing campaigns connect with users across mobile devices, social networks and websites, delivering content in a steady stream along various stages of a consumer’s purchase journey.
Whether it is video advertising on trusted websites, in-stream videos on smartphones, sponsored content across social media networks or targeted video content streamed on connected TV devices, the communication needs to actionable in order to aid conversion. Customers encountering targeted content across their entire purchase journey can bring success for cross-channel video marketing campaigns and will help in easier identification of the points of conversion. Marketers need to align their video content with relevant customer interests and channels to increase retention and ROI. They must have a good coordination with their media buyer to understand audience segments to be targeted.